Romans 1 – Skeptic's Annotated Bible answered

1
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an
apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,

2
(Which he had promised afore
by his prophets in the holy scriptures,)

3
Concerning his Son Jesus Christ
our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;

"Jesus ... was made of the seed of David according to the
flesh."
Jesus is the son of David "according to the flesh." But this
contradicts Matthew (1:18, 22:41-45) and Luke (1:34) which claim that Joseph was not Jesus'
father.Was Joseph the father of
Jesus?

Although Jesus was not the son of Joseph according to
the flesh, he was the son of Mary according to the flesh. On if
Joseph was the father of Jesus, see Matthew 1:18.

4
And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the
spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:

5
By whom we have
received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations,
for his name:

6
Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ:

7
To
all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to
you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

8
First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith
is spoken of throughout the whole world.

9
For God is my witness, whom I
serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make
mention of you always in my prayers;

10
Making request, if by any means
now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come
unto you.

11
For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some
spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established;

12
That is, that I may
be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.

13
Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed
to come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) that I might have some fruit among
you also, even as among other Gentiles.

14
I am debtor both to the Greeks,
and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise.

15
So, as much
as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.

16
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of
God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to
the Greek.

The whole book of Romans is about salvation being by
faith, so yes salvation is by faith alone as this verse clearly
states, and the next chapters set out to prove.
There is a salvation by works as well, as Paul also states: if you
keep the law perfectly, without a single fail, you can be saved as
well. Unless we believe in Christ, we are under the covenant of
salvation by works. But no man can walk this way of salvation anymore,
as everyone sins. No one is perfect.

17
For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith
to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

No one can fail to see the evidence of God. You can
decide not to see it. But there are limits of what we can determine of
the creator God, see Job 11:7. That is why we have his word in which God reveals
himself fully.

21
Because that, when they knew God, they glorified
him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their
imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

It is not Paul who calls atheists fools, it is the Holy
Ghost who drives him to write this. See also Matthew 5:22.

23
And changed the glory of the
uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds,
and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

24
Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of
their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:

(1:24, 26, 28)
"Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness."
God abandons those who don't know him to "uncleanness and vile
affections."

God abandons those who do not wish to know him. Who
reject the evidence of a creator willfully. As we often see these
people go into gross sins just to prove there is no God.

25
Who
changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature
more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

"Served the creature more than the
Creator"
The Religious Right often uses Romans 1:21-25 to condemn
environmentalists. [more]

If we would ask the author of the SAB if he wants to
save whales more than humans, what would his answer be? If he can
rescue either 1 million whales or a single child, what would he
do?

26
For this cause
God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the
natural use into that which is against nature:

(1:26-27)
"God gave them up unto vile affections."
With his usual intolerance, Paul condemns homosexuals (including
lesbians). This is the only clear reference to lesbians in the
Bible.What the Bible says
about homosexuality (1:27)
"The natural use of the woman"
Paul explains that "the natural use" of women is to act as sexual
objects for the pleasure of men.(1:27 Jehovah's Witnesses)
The Watchtower
has also used this verse to condemn oral sex between husband and
wife.

The author of the SAB reads this
verse correctly. Modern theologians reinterpret this verse to say something
it clearly does not.
On the Jehovah's Witnesses: the author of the SAB is correct, the
Jehovah's Witnesses have described exactly what the allowed sexual
interactions between husband and wife should be, causing great
distress in many families. But as I have stated again and again
Jehovah's Witnesses are not Christians. They do not believe a single
doctrine of the Bible, but are guided by evil spirits. As Paul says elsewhere (Heb. 13:4):
“The [marriage] bed is undefiled.” No church should ever
take it upon themselves to proscribe in any shape or form the
behavior of married people.

27
And likewise also the
men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward
another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in
themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.

28
And even as
they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them
over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

(1:28-31)
I'm not sure who Paul is talking about here, but they're all a
bunch of proud, wicked, malicious, deceitful murderers, backbiters,
and God-haters.

Paul is talking about those who
“did not like to retain God in their knowledge.”